Table of Contents

November 2004

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Features

The Good Wife

Is she a “saccharine phony”? A closet liberal? A foot soldier—or a rebel—in the culture wars? The truth about Laura Bush is that her ambiguity makes her a model first lady: a blank screen upon which the public can project its own ideas about womanhood.

Stop Beating Around The Bush

Hey, undecided voters: Time’s up. As unenthusiastic as you may be, you gotta go with one of these guys. Fortunately, we’re here to help you make up your mind.

Life Is Sweet

Rebecca Rather’s recipes for five tempting treats are our holiday gift to you.

And Justice for Some

How the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals mistakes toughness for fairness—and gives the state a black eye.

Attack Here

The Houston Ship Channel is considered one of the top strategic targets in the U.S.—an enormous bomb waiting to be detonated by terrorists. But what happens if the bomb actually goes off? Brace yourself for a worst-case scenario of the sort the Homeland Security folks are modeling and simulating and staying up late worrying about.

They Came. They Sawed.

And they most definitely conquered. The inside story of how a ragtag bunch of hippies made the wildest Texas movie ever (and spilled no more fake blood than was absolutely necessary).

Columns

Patricia Kilday Hart

Little Did We Know...

. . . that the 1994 governor’s race would have such far-reaching consequences. If George W. Bush hadn’t won . . .

Behind the Lines

Rescuing Rick

Advice for the governor’s chief of staff.

Anne Dingus

Mentionables

From bullet bras to panties emblazoned with the Lone Star flag, a brief history of women’s underwear in Texas.

Kinky Friedman

Zero to Sixty

A dreaded milestone approaches.

Don Graham

Accentuate The Negative

To read a Patricia Highsmith novel is to suspend one’s moral judgments. She irresistibly persuades us to side with killers and other amoral characters.

Reporter

Reporter

Sects With Strangers

Have you heard the one about the Mormon polygamists who descended on a tiny West Texas town? It would be funny if it wasn't so serious. (Okay, it's pretty funny too.)

Reporter

Hell on Wheels

Roller Derby's nun on the run.

Reporter

Invasive!

The unmaking of medical privacy.

Previews+Reviews

Books

The best new books from Texas.

Previews+Reviews

Music

The best new music from Texas.

The Filter

Pat's Pick

Saffron

Pat's Pick

Your Pad or Mine

Miscellaneous

Texas Monthly Talks

Kay Bailey Hutchison

“Texas is a huge, growing state on a border. We have some very basic issues that need addressing, and I don’t think they’re being addressed right now.”

Recipe

Nopal Frittata

Adapted from The Prickly Pear Cookbook, Carolyn Niethammer

Books That Cook

Recipes From Historic Texas: A Restaurant Guide and Cookbook

Recipes From Historic Texas: A Restaurant Guide and Cookbook (Taylor Trade Publishing, 2003)

Happy Trails

Today, it is hard to come by places like San Saba, with its hometown feel and emphasis on community. I’m sure glad I found it.

Texas Tidbits

Throughout its 112-year history, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has been known for its tendency to overturn the rulings of lower courts on technicalities.

Texas History 101

While it can boast about the more than 6,300 ships that passed through its waters last year, the Port of Houston started out as a mere loading point for cotton on the way to the Port of Galveston.

Web Extra

Heard the Buzz?

Writer John Bloom, who wrote this month’s “They Came. They Sawed,” talks about slasher flicks and horror-movie audiences.

Web Extra

Drawing on Politics

Illustrator Steve Brodner discusses political satire and his new book, Freedom Fries.

Web Extra

Yikes!

Executive editor S.C. Gwynne on security at the Houston Ship Channel.

Web Extra

She’s a Lady

Executive editor Mimi Swartz, who wrote this month’s cover story, “The Good Wife,” on biographers’ failure to capture Laura Bush.

Web Extra

Court Reporter

Senior editor Michael Hall talks about Ernest Willis, who was recently freed from death row, and the super-conservative Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.